On Mon, 17 Feb 1997, Patrick, Michael wrote:

> For this first time this year, I heard one robin in full song in my
> neighborhood (Seattle). Just passing through, or setting up a
> territory? I'll keep an ear out to determine if he's consistently
> there over the next few weeks.


Over here in Moscow, the Robins showed up in force yesterday. About
thirty of them have been scrounging around in the leaves across the street
from my apartment, and the singing got so loud it almost hurt! I take it
as a good sign, let's hope it is Spring.

I've got a question: do kestrels "stash" their food? The reason I'm
asking is that I found a dead sparrow (yet another one of my friends!)
which had numerous bloody holes on it underneath a yard chair in my
lawn--the only place free of ice at that time. I took it and threw it
away, assuming that a cat had gotten it. When I came back home the next
day, however, I found a big bird (well, big compared to sparrows...) in my
lawn that looked strange. At first glance, I thought he was a robin (I was
a bit far away:). Then, I saw the eye comma. It was a peculiar sight: A
Kestrel standing below my feeder as if he had gone vegetarian... He
hop-flew onto my handrail, then hop-flew down to the bricks where i had
found the dead sparrow. He turned his head around for a while--probably
just keeping an eye on me, and then flew into the nearby tree (where the
Pygmy Owl had been before---maybe it's a prey bird's dream come true...)

I know Kestrels take small birds--do they stash them for later? It
would've been two days at the least between the kill and his visit.

Thanks,

Pat
scott931 at uidaho.edu